Verner's Pride eBook

One came forward with an offer to her. And that
was no other than the Earl of Elmsley’s son,
Viscount Garle. A pleasant man, of eight-and-twenty
years; and he was often at Lady Verner’s.
He had been intimate there a long while, going in
and out as unceremoniously as did Lionel or Jan.
Lady Verner and Decima could tell a tale that no one
else suspected. How, in the years gone by—­some
four or five years ago now—­he had grown
to love Decima with his whole heart; and Decima had
rejected him. In spite of his sincere love; of
the advantages of the match; of the angry indignation
of Lady Verner; Decima had steadfastly rejected him.
For some time Lord Garle would not take the rejection;
but one day, when my lady was out, Decima spoke with
him privately for five minutes, and from that hour
Lord Garle had known there was no hope; had been content
to begin there and then, and strive to love her only
as a sister. The little episode was never known;
Decima and Lady Verner had kept counsel, and Lord
Garle had not told tales of himself. Next to
Lionel, Lady Verner liked Lord Garle better than any
one—­ten times better than she liked unvarnished
Jan; and he was allowed the run of the house as though
he had been its son. The first year of Lucy’s
arrival—­the year of Lionel’s illness,
Lord Garle had been away from the neighbourhood; but
somewhere about the time of Sibylla’s return,
he had come back to it. Seeing a great deal of
Lucy, as he necessarily did, being so much at Lady
Verner’s, he grew to esteem and love her.
Not with the same love he had borne for Decima—­a
love, such as that, never comes twice in a lifetime—­but
with a love sufficiently warm, notwithstanding.
And he asked her to become his wife.

There was triumph for Lady Verner! Next
to Decima—­and all hope of that was dead
for ever—­she would like Lord Garle to marry
Lucy. A real triumph, the presenting her to Colonel
Tempest on his return, my Lady Viscountess Garle!
In the delight of her heart she betrayed something
of this to Lucy.

“But I am not going to marry him, Lady Verner,”
objected Lucy.

“You are not going to marry him, Lucy?
He confided to me the fact of his intention this morning
before he spoke to you. He has spoken to
you, has he not?”

“Not like him!” repeated Lady Verner.
“Why, what can there be about Lord Garle that
you young ladies do not like?” she wondered;
her thoughts cast back to the former rejection by
Decima. “He is good-looking, he is sensible;
there’s not so attractive a man in all the county,
Lionel Verner excepted.”

Lucy’s face turned to a fiery glow. “Had
I known he was going to ask me, I would have requested
him not to do so beforehand, as my refusal has displeased
you,” she simply said. “I am sorry
you should be vexed with me, Lady Verner.”